Consider this about Tony Blair (war criminal), ahead of his arrival to South Africa

24 August 2012

The visit of Tony Blair as a guest speaker to a conference sponsored by Discovery Health in in a weeks’ time 30 August 2012, provides an opportunity to comment on what has been Tony Blair’s ‘achievements’ that entitle him to charge extravagant amounts of money, for the pleasure of hearing his pearls of wisdom? Here are some of his more notorious ‘achievements’:

First, Blair the Anti-Social Reformer : Blair managed to ensure that the British Labour Party abandoned any pretence of being a socialist party and instead became a poor shadow of the anti-poor Conservative Party of Mrs Thatcher, so much so that Mrs Thatcher herself complemented Blair on his ability to cut much needed public services and undermine trade unions. A situation which so demoralised the British working class that the Conservatives were able to regain a foothold and now govern on an agenda that is amongst the most reactionary ever experienced in the UK, thanks to Blair.

Second, Blair the War Maker: Blair made sure that the alliance with the American Government under Bush was absolute, so much so that when the criminal decision was made to invade Iraq based on the blatant lies about weapons of mass destruction, and against the overwhelming wishes of the British people, he was prepared to abandon the sovereignty of his own country to become Bush’s lap dog and chief apologist. This decision cost the lives of thousands of innocent people, and has left Iraq and the region as a whole in turmoil. The invasion prepared the way for the pillaging of Iraq’s resources by US and UK based multinational corporations, thanks to Blair.

Third, Blair the Regional Peace Wrecker: Blair’s short lived role as a mediator to bring about peace in the Middle East exposed him as an unrivalled supporter of the Israeli Zionist project, and a loyal US Ambassador. As the person appointed by imperialist interests to try and bring about peace in the Middle East, he signally failed to take into account the appalling situation facing the Palestinian people, scattered as they are across the region, and blatantly ignored the worst excesses of the Israeli Apartheid State. The Palestinian people have been subject to accelerating levels of repression, with thanks to Blair.

We hope those who gather to hear Blair as a guest speaker this coming week bear these points in mind, and begin to understand why Blair is met with derision and disdain by very large numbers of people wherever he travels. Many believe that he should be indicted as a war criminal, and given the deaths he has been responsible for, not without justification. Others believe him to be a total fraud, who used his close association with ruthless media moguls like the discredited liar Rupert Murdock to gain power and influence, and who turned politics not into a positive force for social change, but as the preserve of spin doctors, unaccountable and corrupt manipulators of the truth, who care little for the common good.

We hope that those who intend to picket the Discovery event and expose Blair as the War Criminal he is, also remind those who have organised this so-called prestigious event, that by enlisting the support of someone like Blair, they have exposed their own limited and narrow interests, based as they are on profiting on the poor and sick, with special thanks to Blair.